3 Muslim women to get $60,000 each for hijab lawsuit in US

New York City will pay three Muslim women a total of $180,000 after they were forced to remove their hijabs while having police mugshots taken.

The lawsuits were settled in Brooklyn federal court with each of the women receiving $60,000 each, according to media reports.

The first case dates back to 2012 when a teenage girl—identified only as “G.E”—was arrested after getting into a fight with two other Brooklyn school girls she believed were spreading rumours about her.

When G.E was taken to a local police station, she was told she must remove her hijab before her photo could be taken. After she refused, the teenager was taken into a private room where a female officer took the mugshot without any men present.

In March 2015, NYPD changed their policies regarding religious head gear, meaning people were informed they had the choice to get their photo taken in a private room with an officer of the same gender, court rulings show.

Two other similar cases in 2015 and 2016 where then filed by G.E’s lawyer, Tahanie Aboushi, after the new rules were out in place.

All three women settled in the cases, resulting in them receiving $60,000 each. The NYPD were also sent additional guidelines on religious head gear in December 2017.

A Law Department spokesperson said the “resolution of these matters were in the best interest of all parties involved.”